E-commerce sales in France grew at a double-digit rate of 16% in the second quarter of this year surpassing expectations, which follows strong online sales in the first quarter with 14% growth, representing the best performance over the last three years, according to the latest figures from the country's e-commerce association Fevad.
During April-June 2015, French online sales increased by 16% to reach €15.5 billion. This growth was boosted by the strong increase in the number of transactions, with the average spend per purchase stabilising at €79. The total number of purchases amounted to 194 million during this period, a 20% increase on Q2 2014 (162 million).
The e-commerce association calculated that about 34.7 million internet users shopped online during the second quarter of 2015, which means 628,000 more online shoppers in one year.
Fevad managing director Marc Lolivier commented: “The number of online shoppers shows a regular and continuous increase which, combined with the increased purchasing frequency and the development of product offering, enables superior performance of e-commerce since the beginning of this year.”
The number of listed French webshops continued to increase dynamically by 14% in one year to currently 167,650. Until the end of the year, Fevad expects to reach the 180,000 mark.
For the whole half-year of 2015, almost €31 billion was spent on internet purchases in France. The good result of the first six months of the year should lead to an improved forecast for the year as a whole, Fevad estimated.
According to the iCE 40 index, which measures the top 40 e-commerce websites in France, the leading websites increased their combined sales strongly by 13% during the second quarter, following the 12% increase in the first quarter. This is the strongest growth rate since 2011, boosted by products in the categories of fashion, decoration and smaller white goods.
Sales to professionals (B2B) within the iCE 40 index also recorded a strong increase of 15% during the second quarter.
Marketplaces continue to play an important role for the activity of certain panel websites, of which the sales are not calculated in the iCE 40. The index measuring sales volumes of the marketplaces (iPM) continued its strong growth, with the transactions on the marketplaces currently representing 27% of the sales generated by the hosting websites. This confirms the increasing importance of the marketplaces for the e-commerce sector, Fevad stressed.
Mobile commerce also remains a dynamic growth factor in France. The iCM panel (mobile commerce index), which measures sales from mobile devices (smartphones and tablets), soared by 43% during the second quarter of 2015, compared to the same period last year. Sales via mobile phones and tablets now represent 19% of revenues generated from the websites which make part of the iCM. This corresponds to an increase of 5%, compared to a year ago.
The clothing sector, which represents one of the major pillars of e-commerce in France, exceeded sales of €4.8 billion over the last 12 months (July 2014-June 2015). In the first quarter of 2015, online sales of clothes outperformed the overall market with a 9.7% increase, compared to Q1 2014, in the context of slightly decreased spending on clothing (-2%). Meanwhile, online sales of clothes account for 15.4% of the amount French shoppers spent on garments overall.
